Cord-winding device



June 15, 1943. e. E. LOFGREN 2,322,938

CORD-WINDING DEVICE Filed Dec. 12, 1940 2 Sheets -Sheet 1 June 15, 1943.e. E. LOFGREN CORD-WINDING DEVICE 2 SheetsSheet 2 Filed Dec. 12, 1940INENTOR. Z! /Y' 4&4 ATTORNEY.

Patented June E5, 1943 CORD-WINDING DEVICE Gustaf Einar Lofgren,Riverside, Conn, assignor to Electrolux Corporation, Dover, Del., a acorporation of Delaware Application December 12, 1940, Serial No.369,765

Claims.

My invention relates to a cord-winding device, and more particularly toa device of this type which may be attached to a standard vacuum cleanerwithout the use of tools and without the provision of any specialfastening means on the cleaner. Another object of my invention is toeliminate the necessity of slip rings or other relatively movablecurrent-carrying parts in a cordwinding device. Further objects andadvantages of my invention will be apparent from the followingdescription considered in connection with the accompanying drawingswhich form a part of this specification, and of which: 1

Fig. 1 is a side view, partially in cross section, of a device inaccordance with my invention secured to a vacuum cleaner;

Fig. 2 is a view on an enlarged scale of a portion of the apparatusillustrated in Fig. 1, the cord-winding device and a portion of thevacuum cleaner being in cross section.

Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken on the line 4-4 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 5 is a cross-sectional view of the cordwinding device showing thecord entirely unwound, but still attached to the reel of the device: and

Fig. 6 is a view similar to Fig. 5, but with the cord detached from thereel.

Referring to the drawings, reference character I!) designates generallya vacuum cleaner unit while reference character I l designates the cord-Winding device. The vacuum cleaner unit includes a casing I2 providedwith runners l3 for supporting the unit horizontally upon a horizontalsurface. A dust-separating member I4 is located within the casing andmay be removed for emptying through an opening in one end of the casingwhich is closed by means of a removable cover member l5. Member I5 isprovided with an inlet opening is to which may be connected a. conduitleading to a suction nozzle or other dusting tool. Also located withinthe casing is an electric motor I! driving a centrifugal fan l8.Rotation of the fan serves to cause a flow of air into thecasing throughopening l6. This air passes through the material of the dust-separatingmember id to the fan and flows therefrom through the electric motor andis discharged from the casing through an exhaust opening l9, shown inFig. 2.

The exhaust opening is provided with any suitable coupling means,whereby if desired a hose may be connected thereto for using the cleaneras a blower. As shown, this coupling means consists of screw threads 20.The cord-winding device l l is provided with a hollow member 2! which isprovided with screw threads adapted to engage the threads 20. Theinterior of the device H is hollow and the air discharged from theexhaust opening l9 passes through an opening 22 therein to theatmosphere. Obviously, the opening 22 could be provided with screwthreads, or other suitable coupling means, so that the hose could beconnected thereto for blowing.

The hollow member 2| is secured to or integral with a circular end wall23. This wall is provided with a flange 24 to which is bolted acylindrical wall 25. Member 25 is secured to or integral with anotherend wall 23 in which is The hub portion of the reel is provided withopenings 32 in order to permit flow therethrough of air. The reelincludes spaced cord-retaining flanges 33 and 34. A plurality of lips 35are struck from near the periphery of flange 34 and the outer end of aspiral spring 36 is riveted to one of these lips. The remaining lipsserve, to retain the outermost turn of the spring when the spring iscompletely unwound. The inner end of the spring is suitably secured tothe spider 21.

The cylindrical wall 25 is formed with an opening 37 around the edges'ofwhich is preferably provided a gasket 38 of rubber or the like. Thedimension of the opening 31 in axial direction is substantially the sameas the distance between the reel flanges 33 and 34.

A strap member 39 has one end secured to the hub of reel 30, as by beingprovided with a hook All engaging an opening formed in the hub. Thestrap is of such length as to permit of its being wound about two turnsaround the hub and the other end of the strap is secured to acord-retaining clamp designated generally by reference character 4|.This clamp includes a pair of parallel plate-like members 42 and 43.Member 42 is pivotally secured to the end of the strap by means of a pin44. Arivet or'the like is rigidly secured to plate 43 and engages a slot43 formed in plate 42, whereby the plates may he slid relative to eachother in a direction parallel to the 5 4 Plate 42 is formed with ahook-like member "which co-operates with a projection 48 formed on plate43 to clamp therebetween an electric cord 43 when the plates are in theposition shown in Figs. 4 and 5. When the plates are slid relative toeach other to the position shown in Fig. 6, suiflcient space is providedbetween the hook 41 and the projection 48 to remove the -cord.

Two arms 50 are pivoted on the rivet 45 and each arm is provided with aslot 5| adjacent to its outer endv Plate 43 is provided with a slot 52near either edge and pins'or the like 53, which are fixed to plate 42 asby riveting, extend through the slots 5| in the arms and the slots 52 inplate 43. Pins 53 are engaged by a spring 54, the midpoint of whichpasses overthe rivet 45. The tendency of spring 54 is to move the pins53 through the slots 52 from the position shown in Fig. 5 to thatillustrated in Fig. 6. Such movement of the pins 53 causes the arms 50to pivot about the rivet 45 so that the ends of the arms project beyondthe sides of the cord clamp 4|, the slots 5| in the arms permitting suchpivoting. Inasmuch as pins 53 are secured to plate 42, the pins can movein this manner only when the plate 42 is slid upwardly with respect toplate 43. When the parts are in the position shown in Fig. 5 the pull ofthe cord on hook 41 cannot slide the plate upwardly relative to plate43, inasmuch as the pins 53 engage the slots 52 in arms 50 and thelatter cannot pivot upwardly about rivet 45 because their outer ends arerestrained by flanges 33 and 34 of the reel. Hence, the cord cannot beaccidentally released while the clamp li is within the case. However,when the clamp is pulled through the opening 31, the arms 5!) are freeto pivot outwardly and hence the plate 42 opening 31.

may he slid upwardly with respect to plate 43 to the position shown inFig. 6 in order to release the cord. Spring 54 acting on pins 53 tendsto slide the plates apart and is aided by the pull of the cord on hookl1.

Th above-described device operates as follows. The cord 49 is initiallywound on the spool 30 with the ends of the cord extending through theopening 31. The plugs 55 and 56 are sufiiciently large so that they willnot pass through this opening. To unwind the cord, the plugs 55 and 56are grasped and the cord is pulled outwardly through the opening 31.This causes the reel 30 to rotate and wind up the spring 36. The cord isthus pulled out through the opening until it is completely unwound fromthe reel. When this occurs, the cord-holding clamp attached to the endof strap 39 is likewise pulled through the opening. The pull of the cordon the hook 41, together with the force exerted by spring 54 is now ableto move the parts to the position shown in Fig. 6, where the arms extendbeyond the edges of the opening 31 and thus prevent the retraction ofthe clamp into the casing by the force exerted by the spring 36. In thisposition the plate 42 has been slid upwardly with respect to the plate43 so as to release the cord from the hook 41. With the parts in thisposition, which is illustrated in Fig. 6, the arms cannot beaccidentally retracted to within the clamp inasmuch as the pins 53prevent downward pivoting of the arms as long as plate 42 is slidupwardly with respect to plate 43.

The plug 56 of the cord may then be inserted in a suitable receptacle ofthe vacuum cleaner unit, while the plug may be connected to a convenientoutlet.

When it is desired to again wind the cord, the central part thereof isplaced underneath the hook 41, the clamp It is pulled outwardly a slightdistance to permit pivoting or the arms, and the'plate 42 is sliddownwardly so as to clamp the cord in place and to retract the armssufdclently so that they will pass-through the Sliding of the plate 42downwardly with respect to plate 43, causes such retraction due to theengagement or the pins 53 with the slots 5| in the arms. The spring 36thereupon causes the spool 30 to rotate and thus wind the cord upon thehub and between the flanges 33 and 34.

It will thus be seen that I have provided a cord reel which may beeasily attached to a standard vacuum cleaner unit, and more specificallyto one of the air flow openings in the casing of such a unit. Thedetails of the reel itself, which are disclosed here but not claimed,constitute the claimed subject matter of my divisional applicationSerial No. 392,405, filed on May 8, 1941.

While I have shown and described one more or less specific embodiment ofmy invention, it is to be understood that this has been done forpurposes'of illustration only and is not to be considered as limitingthe scope of my invention, which is to be determined by the appendedclaims.

What I claim is:

1. In apparatus of the class described, a vacuum cleaner having a casingformed with an opening therein for the passage of air and coupling meansfor connecting a hose to said opening, a cord-winding device including acase, means carried by said case and engageable with said coupling meansfor removably securing said device to said opening, said case beingformed with a centrally disposed passage therethrough communicating withsaid means carried by said case, a cord-winding reel having a hubportion and a cord-retaining portion, and means extending transverselyof said passage for rotatably mounting said hub portion within saidcase, said last-mentioned means and said hub portion be ing formed withapertures for flow of air.

2. In apparatus of the class described, a vacuum cleaner having a casingformed with an opening therein for the passage of air and coupling meansfor connecting a hose to said opening, a cordwinding device including acasing having spaced parallel walls, means carried by one of said wallsand engageable with said coupling means for removably securing saiddevice to said opening, the other of said walls having an aperturesubstantially in alignment with the second-mentioned means, acord-winding reel having a hub portion and a cord-receiving portion, theinner di ameter of said cord-receiving portion being substantially thesame as the diameter of said aperture, and means disposed between saidwalls for rotatably supporting said hub portion within said said case,said last-mentioned means and said hub portion being formed withapertures for the flow of air.

3. A portable vacuum cleaner comprising antifriction means forsupporting the cleaner making said cleaner easily movable over a flatsurface, a casing having an opening therein, electric means producingwhen in operation a flow of air through said opening, said casing havingcoupling means quickly manually connectable and releasable forconnecting an air conduit to said opening in such a manner as to causeair flowing through the opening to flow through the conduit, meansincluding an electric cordfor connecting said electric means to a sourceof electhe atmosphere when. said device is supported 1 on said cleaneras aforesaid.

4. In apparatus of the class described, a vac-i uum cleaner having acasing formed with an opening therein for the passage of air andcoupling means for connecting a hose to said opening, a cord windingdevice including a casing having spaced walls roughly parallel to oneanother, means carried by one of said walls and engageable with at leasta part of saidcoupling means for removably securing said device to saidopening, the other of said walls having an aperture substantially inalignment with the second mentioned means, a cord-winding reel having acord-receiving portion, the inner diameter of said cord-receivingportion being substantially the same as the diameter of said aperture,and means disposed between said walls for rotatably supporting saidre'el within said case, said last mentioned means and said reel beingformed with apertures providing means through which air can flow throughsaid device between said opening in the vacuum cleaner casing and theatmosphere.

5. A portable electric vacuum cleaner comprising a casing having anopening, an electric-cord winding-reel having a casing with an openingtherein, two open ended tubes, one of said tubes being carried by eachof said casings and each having a mouth coincident with the opening inthe casing on which it is carried, said tubes being of such size as tofit one within the other, means including said tubes forquick-detachably supporting said winding-reel casing wholly upon saidvacuum cleaner casing, means including said opening in the vacuumcleaner casing and the tube coincident therewith for quick-detachablycoupling a hose to said opening in the vacuum cleaner casing, saidwinding-reel casing having a path through the center thereofsubstantially parallelto the axis of said reel and in substantialalignment with the tube carried thereby for the .fiow of air between theinterior of the vacuum cleaner casing and the atmosphere through saidwinding-reel and said tubes.

GUSTAF EINAR LOFGREN.

